Branka Pudrlja Durbaba, Senior Market Director, A1 Srbija – Predicting Users’ Needs Rather Than Responding to Them

(Branka Pudrlja Durbaba) The international synergy we’ve achieved thanks to the recent rebranding has enabled us to be the only operator with our own device brand in the market.

The telecommunications market had been going through major changes even before the global pandemic. To what extent have the health and the economic crises accelerated the transition to the most modern technologies?

– For years now, digital transformation has been one of the most important topics in the world, and it is becoming increasingly important in our market as well. The pandemic has accelerated all that and forced many companies to adapt faster. The telco industry is, in a way, the generator of that trend, because we have been operating outside the traditional frameworks for several years now. Although the first association with a telecommunications operator is the provision of connectivity, A1 Srbija is oriented to connecting devices, in addition to people. The future is already requiring the creation of end-to-end solutions, rounded processes which provide business users with optimal turnkey solutions. It is very exciting and it is a great responsibility to play an active role in it, as an ICT company.

To what extent and in what way have the needs of commercial users changed and how do you respond to them?

– There is a need for increased digitization of business processes, especially considering the trend of working from home. This entails quality communications support to people and machines. The market of Internet of Things devices is growing at a great pace and is estimated at up to as much as EUR 75 billion by 2025. A1 Srbija is one of the only 15% operators in the world which provide their users with the benefits of the Narrow Band IoT technology. It is great for commercial users, because it provides a wide range of application – in agriculture, transport, energy, environmental protection, production, in every area in which data are measured and transferred. We are dedicated to services of the future which will help business users optimize, and we also support them through the first free business platform – Nasa mreza.

Research shows that companies expect greater sales through digital channels, but also a fast adaptation to new conditions, which brings the marketing sector back into focus. How does A1 Srbija plan to follow this transition?

– Predicting trends enables us to make it a part of everyday business practices. Commercial users need a stable and rich internet connection, so that they could move their operations, without a problem, to the online field, where the further market game is taking place. In order to support the growth of the number of users, which, according to RATEL’s report, continued in the first quarter of 2021 as well, since we are the operator to whose network the most users have transferred their numbers, and their need for greater internet consumption, we are working on significant improvements of the network infrastructure, an expansion of the capacities of the 4G network and an even greater improvement of the data service. Additional infrastructural expansions are planned throughout the country, especially in the Belgrade area and in Vojvodina, which will upgrade user experience on as much as 70% of the network.

The international synergy we’ve achieved thanks to the recent rebranding has enabled us to be the only operator with our own device brand in the market. This exclusivity is available to our commercial users as well, since the “Mocne biznis tarife” service enables them to choose the latest generation of A1 Alpha phones, the first ones in the Serbian market with a three-year guarantee.

How does the technology influence the changing of user experience now and what will it look like in the future?

– Each individual has the power to make a change for the better, and, combined with the power of modern technology, that power can reshape our experiences. A1 Telekom Austria Group is dedicated to the development of new solutions and I am glad that A1 Srbija is successfully keeping up with the world trends, giving a great contribution to the Group’s strategy in this field. I am convinced that, with the Narrow Band IoT technology, private LTE networks and other advanced device-connecting solutions, as well as cyber security, we will substantially help commercial users optimize the processes and thereby upgrade their operations.

A1 Srbija d.o.o. Beograd

Branka Pudrlja Durbaba

A1 Alpha phones

Narrow Band IoT technology

LTE network

Telco industry

Internet of Things devices

digital transformation